Contributed by: TheOneTrueBillTheOneTrueBill(others by this writer | submit your own)Published on January 20th 2004I went into this show looking to be disappointed. A few days after I purchased my ticket, I found out that the awe-inspiring F-Minus were playing at the Fireside Bowl the same night. Plans for going to both were concocted, but eventually dropped. Looked like I was going to have to settle for The .

I went into this show looking to be disappointed. A few days after I purchased my ticket, I found out that the awe-inspiring F-Minus were playing at the Fireside Bowl the same night. Plans for going to both were concocted, but eventually dropped. Looked like I was going to have to settle for The Locust and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Boy, was I wrong.

Apparently there was a band called The Oath that played first. Oh well. I walked in right before Your Enemies Friends hit the stage. I knew they were involved with Buddyhead, which is a mixed bag. My initial reaction upon looking at them was "fucking hipster rock" and went downstairs to the coat check. With that completed (taking the EL in January is a bitch) I came back up and started to watch the set. The more I listened, the closer to the stage I moved. My head started to sway, my toes began to tap, my hips started to shake. As they left, I realized my snap judgment was wrong. They did what every opening band should do: get you in the mood for more music, and make you curious as to what their records sound like. I'll be checking them out in the future.

Next on was the Locust. Again, I felt a pang of trepidation. I wasn't sure how they would do in The Metro, a big leap forward from the Fireside and the Bottom Lounge. All doubts were erased the second they started up. In new white suits, the band did exactly what they were supposed to do, which is rock the fuck out. With one initial scream from Justin Pearson to properly test the mics, they launched into around 25 minutes of audio destruction. You know what the Locust sound like if you're reading this. It'd be really redundant to attempt an explanation. The band was on, 100%. I couldn't take my eyes off them as they tore through pretty much all of Plague Soundscapes, and ignoring the self-titled effort. I was hoping to hear "Brand New Set of Teeth" but alas, it wasn't meant to be. The heckling was held to a minimum. Not really a disappointment, but surprising. I would type a set list, but I want to keep this semi-concise. Highlights â?? Live From the Russian Compound, Recyclable Body Fluids in Human Shape, Who Wants A Dose the Clap, and Twenty-Three Lubed Up Schizophrenics with Delusions of Grandeur.

With spooky background music and smoke machines going on, the time for Dillinger was obviously approaching. Right away, they blast into a psychotic rendition of "Hollywood Squares." If I were blind, I would think that it was actually Patton up there. Greg is one hell of a front man. The crowd was like play-doh in his hand. I lost count of how many times the guy almost fell into the teeming masses. I don't know how these guys do it. I couldn't play their songs sitting down in a tranquil atmosphere. They do it spot on while putting on an amazing spectacle. Three or four songs in, they busted out "The Mullet Burden" which expectedly got the biggest reaction. Why not, since it's my personal favorite song, as well as many others. They promised a new album in the next two to three months. I sincerely hope so. For about 45 minutes, nothing else in the world mattered. DEP had conquered their surroundings. Highlights â?? Pig Latin, 43% Burnt, Sugar Coated Sour, When Good Dogs Do Bad Things.

I'll save my bitching about "hardcore dancing" for later, but I will ask this. When did you all become fucking ninjas?

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you

Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten

Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like

Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon
sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (March 23, 2006)

yeah, the "ninja dancing" is lame, especially since at least up here on cape cod the sxe toughguys all go out and just spin kick while i try to do it oldschool, floorpunch, circlepit, windmill and shits. but grind/screamo/jazzcore shits like the locust and DEP is amazing moshing material, and i could excuse some ninja/"hardcore dancing" in that if they were pwnin other bitches doin it, like jumping into a pogo with some flying kicks or shit.

Well, not all metalheads are meatheads, but I'm sure you knew that already. Anyway, that was a really rough pit to begin with, the whole place pretty much opened up and if you weren't moving you were almost getting trampled. These kids thought they could clear a space in all this chaos to practice their karate, no chance. The funniest part was when some kid tried to tell everyone to back up so he could do some dancing, as he began to wave his arms, a wall of people hit him and sent him flying into another wall of people. This was all unintentional, because they just couldn't stop. But it reminded me of the old cartoons where someone would bounce off a bunch of things and it would say "tilt."

Anonymous (January 26, 2004)

Me(a)t(al)heads are easy to piss off, I guess. But, then again, if I went to see the Boys and some kids started that ninja crap, I'd black'em one.

I remember seeing Slayer and (unfortunately) Hatebreed a whiel back. Some kids had the nerve to hardcore dance during Slayer's set. Needless to say, the metalheads were not amused. A kid tried to do a spinkick and was clotheslined so hard that he literally did a backflip.

Anonymous (January 26, 2004)

Hhahahahahahhahahahahaha.

Gullible kids are the funnest kids.

-BSD

Anonymous (January 26, 2004)

Knives and macho posturing are both for complete pussies.

Anonymous (January 25, 2004)

Wow. Knives are wicked cool. Way to lose almost every shred of respect I had for you BSD.

...evildeadalive

this score's for knives

Anonymous (January 25, 2004)

Oh yeah, and during the death metal bands' set that came on before AG, I saw some idiots actually taking turns doing the ninja dance. They cleared out what would have been the mosh pit (by force, of course, because that's what real men do) and were actually tapping each other off as they stopped and started.

Dumbnesscore.

-BSD

Anonymous (January 25, 2004)

"as for the "ninja danceing" it's been happening for a good 25 years now. Sounds like you've never seen real hardcore bands. Go see Terror, The Distance or Blue Monday and you will see what true hardcore shows are like. None of that pushy / run into each other mall metal bullshit."

Yeah I know what "ninja dancing" is, and when some fucker tried to turn the front row at Agnostic Front into a Hatebreed pit with that idiotic "hardcore dancing" (what a dumb name), I reversed his kick and he tried to punch me. So I lifted up the part of my shirt that revealed I had a knife.

That was a fun story.

Lesson: You might get stabbed if you try to spinkick me.

-BSD

Anonymous (January 23, 2004)

to attest to the meathead factor at the show...some kid was beat down on the pavement not moving after the show...probably an extension of the multiple fights/near-fights that happened during the show.
But, overall, the crowd wasn't as "macho" as it very easily could've been, with the exception of the post-show retardedness.

Hardcore dancing doesn't bother me much, unless it gets out of hand and someone who's minding their own business gets hurt. I usually stand up front, so I expect to get pushed, occasionally kicked by crowd surfers, whatever, but some kid standing away from the pit shouldn't have to worry about that shit.

Hardcore dancing should be spontaneous, seeing a line of kids doing spin kicks is hilarious. I feel like I'm watching Westside Story or something. The bottom line is, have fun, but at the same time be considerate to those around you, these are the same people who will be catching you if you stage dive.

"as for the "ninja danceing" it's been happening for a good 25 years now. Sounds like you've never seen real hardcore bands. Go see Terror, The Distance or Blue Monday and you will see what true hardcore shows are like. None of that pushy / run into each other mall metal bullshit."

seriously, don't try to be cool...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHahahah. YEAH GO SEE TERROR OF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SAME PEOPLE THAT FUCKED SHIT UP 25 YEARS AGO!!! IT'S THE EXACT SAME THING DUDE!! HAHAHAH

JO GAT PONKT!!

Anonymous (January 23, 2004)

lol ninjas

Anonymous (January 23, 2004)

To the guy that said something about hardcore dancing going on for 25 years; bravo. It's nice to know some people on this site actualy know what they're talking about. Like all these little snide comments about emo. I don't think anyone on here really knows what real emo is. Except maybe the guy I reffered to in the beginning of the post. Seriously, if you don't understand what those guys were doing (hardcore dancing) then leave it alone and quit being a pussy. FYI, i'm 5'7 and i have a very small frame, im not some fucking jock trieing to prove how tough I am, it's another way to get into the music and its fun. Get educated before you start bashing shit. anyone have any problems emial me at downsizedyouth@Hotmail.com or on AIM returntoxsenderx , i won't have a problem clarifying any of this for you.

"My head started to sway, my toes began to tap, my hips started to shake."

Sounds like quite a sight.

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

this show hits my area the same day my spring semester starts, and i've got night classes. this is hard.

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

www.geocities.com/blacktiebombers

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

"go back to math rock shows...faggot"

what the fuck do you call DEP, (yes, they are metal/hardcore but anyone who can count understands that DEP are just as mathy as ANYTHING ever recorded)?

the question isn't when everyone became "ninjas" it's when did they become morons?

when did a show become a stomping ground for ex-fucking football players?

it's funny how people can prove their masculinity through molestation.

oh, the world.

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

this show rocked.

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

sounds like you don't know what you're talking about. i'm waaaay more punk than you.

j/k
thats just half the posts on this site. i hate this subculture.

-benz

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

the only band that i have seen that was better live than dillinger escape plan was q and not u.

dillinger put on a hell of a show

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

cant wait to see the new white suits

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

I thought i was going to this show tonight in Cleveland but then i found out.... I AM GOING TO THIS SHOW TONIGHT IN CLEVELAND HAHA!

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

Awesome. I'm seeing this at the Bowery 2.1.04.
Your Enemies Friends is the fucking best. Just listen to "The Wiretap." They are snotty, but that just makes them better.

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

I just learned they're playing in cleveland tonight! ...and only 15 minutes away from me!
I'm THERE!

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

a band called the oath? ummm who are they.....just the dudes from fucking charles bronson. and what's up with i taught that your enemis friends suck because they do buisness with buddy head...what a punk way to think..they rock dude, and it as nothing to do with buddy head

Oh, how I'd love to be going to see this in Cleveland tonight. In its stead, I'll be sitting in English Literature II. Peace.

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

To the person talking about the sexual molestation - sorry to hear that. But don't blame everyone in Chicago, it happens everywhere.

To the person talking about the Oath, I thought they were really mediocre. They sounded like thee Locust with a bad guitarist no keyboards and boring punk parts thrown in.

To the reviewer, you didn't even mention the light show. I thought that was amazing. I don't remember being rocked as hard by a band as I was by Dillinger. Great show.

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

I'm from Milwaukee, some of my friends went to this show. A lady friend of mine and her sister got punched in the face and sexually molested. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! Is that what you fucktards in Chicago do at shows. A HUGE FUCK YOU to anyone who did that shit, or who saw it and did nothing. Chicago can eat a bowl of dicks, as Justin Pearson would say.

-Gregory

Anonymous (January 20, 2004)

too bad you missed the oath. they're really good. i know, cause half of the band are from holland and ive seen them a bunch of times.

also, oil, which is another great dutch band, will tour with dillinger escape plan soon. be early and don't miss 'em.

as for the "ninja danceing" it's been happening for a good 25 years now. Sounds like you've never seen real hardcore bands. Go see Terror, The Distance or Blue Monday and you will see what true hardcore shows are like. None of that pushy / run into each other mall metal bullshit.